RELIGION

India's main contribution to the Southeast Asia, apart from his language, Sanskrit, is its religion, which were both predominant means of expression. The first historical evidence for the spread of religions originating in India to Southeast Asia can be found in the form of inscriptions and bronze images of the Buddha. Discovered all along the trade routes, most of these works reflect Indian or Singhalese styles but do not date further back than the 5th of 6th century. Nevertheless the fact that this early images were Buddhists does not mean that Buddhism was the first religion in Southeast Asia. It is believed that animist believes were common before Buddhism was adopted at the same time as Brahmanism (or Hinduism). Even if Siddhartha Gautama's concepts, in the 6th century, were in direct contrast to the Hindu believes in an eternal, blissful Self, or Paramatman, and hence Buddhism was originally a heresy against India's Brahmanic religion, they both have developed side by side since then. As it is the case in India, these two religions seem to have focused more on their common points rather than on their differences. One of the notable aspects of the Indian religion in Cambodia lies in their harmonious coexistence, sometimes verging on syncretism, which is reflected again and again in both inscriptions and monuments. Furthermore these strict faiths did not result in any king of paralysis and once they had taken roots they evolve to produce fruits unknown in their mother country, India. These have been mainly remarkable in the Khmer Art.

Nowadays more than 95% of the Cambodians are Theravada Buddhist; nevertheless other regions remain such as Islam, Christianity, Animism and Caodaism. In this section we do not intent to represent all the religion, in fact we will just introduced the Buddhism as well as Caodism, which is less known than the other traditional religions.

BUDDHISM

Buddhism as Christianity and Islam is based on the teachings of an historical figure; Siddhartha Gautama; known as Buddha, or the enlightened one. Siddhartha Gautama was born prince in the northern India in the 6th century BC. He turned ascetic and spent much of his life contemplating the meaning of existence, which he connected with suffering. He subjected himself to many years of austerity to reach the "enlightenment". Even if this latter never claimed to be divine, his teachings have been since then transmitted by Buddhist monks. The essence of this philosophy lied in the fact that with proper behaviour and thinking, gathered in four noble truths (Existence is suffering/ Suffering is caused by desire/ Conquer desire and suffering will disappear/ Follow the eight-fold path in order to conquer desire), individuals were able to overcome suffering and reach enlightenment.

Buddhism is now divided into two main currents; the Theravada school, also called "southern" school as it took the southern route from India, its place of origin, through Southeast Asia: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; and the "northern" school, which proceed north into Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam and Japan. The southern school limited the Buddhist doctrines to the ones codified in the early Buddhist era and the northern school designated it as Hinayana, which means the "lesser vehicle". Theravada doctrine stresses the three principal aspects of existence: Tukha (suffering, unsatisfactory, disease), Anicha (impermanency, transience of all things) and Annatto (no substantiality or no essentiality of reality: no permanent soul).

The northern school considered itself the "greater vehicle" as, even if founded in the same early doctrines, it claim to have expended them through the years in order to meet and respond better to the needs of people.

MODERN BUDDHISM IN CAMBODIA

Buddhism widely spread in Cambodia since the King Jayavarman II, father of the Angkor Kingdom, embraced the so-called Great Vehicle brand of Buddhism (Mahayana). Later on, influenced by Siam and Burma missionaries, most Cambodian practiced Hinayana, or "Lesser Vehicle" Buddhism, which was more austere than Mahayana.

The earliest Buddhist statues found in the ruins of ancient Cambodian temples date from the 2nd century. Many of the splendid stone Buddha's on view today in the National Museum in Phnom Penh were taken from the ruins of 5th century temples. Around the country there are 3,371 pagodas, including some 90 in Phnom Penh. Buddhism suffuses the life of most Cambodians with spiritual meaning and hope. In Modern Cambodia, the Buddhism cult is centred on religious happenings hold at the Wat (monasteries) through the year.

CAODAISM

Dao Cao Dai (Caodaism in English) is the third largest religion in Viet Nam. "Cao" means "high"; "Dai" means "palace". Caodai refers to the supreme palace where God reigns. This word is also used as God's symbolic name.
Caodaism is a syncretistic religion, which combines elements from many of the world's main religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, as well as Genism, an indigenous religion of Viet Nam.
Caodaism regards the history of religion as being divided into three periods of revelation. The first was circa 2500 BCE, when God inspired selected religious leaders to found Judaism in the Middle East, Hinduism in India and Yi king (philosophy of transformation) in China. A few thousand years later, God led the Buddha to found Buddhism, Lao Tse to create Taoism, Confucius to start Confucianism, and Jesus Christ to found Christianity.

Caodaism affirms that, due to the frailty of those religious leaders, the truth became distorted. A number of religions were formed, but most flourished only in or near their countries of origin. Religions became adapted to the needs of individual cultures. Limitations in communication and transportation prevented the formation of a single, true universal religion which all of humanity could embrace. Followers of Caodaism believe that God was concerned that the multiplicity of religions prevented people from living together in harmony. God decided to initiate a third revelation, in which he communicated Caodaism by spiritualist means.

Ngo Van Chieu, a civil servant of the Cochin China government began to receive messages from a spirit called Duc Cao Dai, whom he believed to be God. After three years of studying and worshipping God, he shared his spiritual discoveries with others in Saigon (actual Ho Chi Min City). At the end of the year At Suu (1926 CE), Cao Dai instructed a small group of mediums to found a new religion. One of the mediums, Le Van Trung was named by God to be acting Giao Tong (Pope).

Caodaism was formally founded on 1926 by a group of 247 disciples. Spiritualism is the method that God chose to transmit this new religion to humanity. A mechanical device is commonly used as a means of communication between spirit beings and humans.

With the unification of Viet Nam in 1975, the Communist government restricted the Caodaists' activities. Their Cuu Trung Dai (executive body) and Hiep Thien Dai (legislative body) were been abolished and replaced with a Governing Council under the direct control of the government. Rituals and ceremonies continued without government interference. A new order dawned in mid-1997, when the religion received official sanction from the government.

Cadaism defends the existence of a single god for all human and gathering all religions. They have also the concept of a Karma that will remain after death and will lead to a better or worth reincarnation. It is believed that if you have a bad Karma you could be reincarnated in an other planet, much cooler and darker than earth. If the Karma is good than the reincarnation will be to a better position on earth or even reach the Heaven or Nirvana.

To know more about Caodism;
The Sydney Centre for Studies in Caodaism maintains a home page at:
http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~cdao/tam.htm